12 Jan 2021
First two residents begin small animal internal medicine programme at the West Country referral practice after European College of Veterinary Internal Medicine gives approval.
James Westgate
Job Title
Sara Cermeno Fernandez (left) and Lucy Venman.
Cave Veterinary Specialists has been approved to run its own small animal internal medicine veterinary residency programmes.
The go-ahead from the European College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (ECVIM) is seen as a significant endorsement for the Linnaeus-owned practice in West Buckland, Somerset.
Cave has moved swiftly to appoint vets Sara Cermeno Fernandez and Lucy Venman as its first residents, who began their programmes last month after completing successful internships.
Both Dr Fernandez and Dr Venman joined Cave in 2019 with the aim of pursuing a medicine specialisation.
Cave’s clinical director Nele Van den Steen, an RCVS specialist in small animal medicine and a European specialist in small animal internal medicine, said: “We are naturally very pleased to have achieved this milestone and are delighted to get started, with our first residents Sara and Lucy continuing their career development with us.
“To be approved for a residency programme, you have to show you can support the caseload required and provide the training the residents will need.
“So, this accreditation shows we have the integrity and the capacity to support the programme, which is a notable achievement and a ringing endorsement of our work here at Cave.”
